1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to footwear and, more particularly, pertains to foot protection against injury caused by compression and impact loads.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Safety footwear is well known in the prior art. Typically, safety footwear, such as safety boots or shoes, includes a toe cap and a metatarsal guard. These guards are made of various high impact-resistant materials to protect a wearer's foot from injuries resulting, for instance, from the impact of falling heavy objects.
Over the years, various attempts have been made to render these guards more comfortable while still providing adequate protection to a wearer's feet.
For example, Canadian Patent No. 2,119,837 issued on Sep. 22, 1998 to Fortin et al. discloses a plastic metatarsal guard having a rear portion in which slits are defined so as to form a transversal series of longitudinally extending tongues that spread apart to follow the movement of the foot when walking. The central tongue is provided at a distal end thereof with an integral flap which is folded against the top surface of the tongues in order to distribute the load on the different tongues upon impact of a falling object.
Although the metatarsal guard described in the above mentioned patent is effective, it can be appreciated that the folding of the flap over the tongues requires an additional manufacturing step and also reduces the flexibility of the guard. Furthermore, it has been found that there is a need for a metatarsal guard which allows a user to comfortably assume a crouched position without the discomfort of having the rear edge of the guard unevenly coming in contact against the dorsal portion of the instep.